Rio Tinto reports first-half underlying EPS $2.96 vs $3.54 last year

Reports 1H underlying EBITDA of $11.5B vs $12.1B last year. Reports H1 underlying earnings $4.807B vs $5.75B last year. Rio Tinto (RIO) Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said: “We are delivering very resilient financial results with an improving operational performance helped by our increasingly diversified portfolio. Underlying EBITDA of $11.5 billion and operating cash flow of $6.9 billion, despite a 13% lower iron ore price, demonstrate the growing contribution from our Aluminium and Copper businesses and our Pilbara operations’ strong recovery from the four cyclones in the first quarter. We are reporting underlying earnings of $4.8 billion